flagship, mid tier, low end what!!!

Staff MemberRescue Squad

I was listening to droid-life's latest podcast on the elliptical yesterday (which i still have 30 mins of the show left)and a point was made about Google having a flagship, mid tier and cheaper Pixel. And us nerds, we only care about the flagships. See the flagships are the best foot forward and the latest and greatest. It is the rush to the top and cream of the crop. No one care about anything else.

Every few years I shop for a new phone for my grandmother and now is time for a update. She is currently rocking a windows phone with a cracked screen. So I was actually looking at an iPhone SE. Unfortunately the screen was what concerned me because it may be hard on her vision. I thought about going swappa but for an iPhone 6 I was looking at $300 not including what it would cost me to get the battery swapped out.

So I went to BBY and was looking around. Saw an open box on a Moto G5S going for about 219, about what it is going for on Swappa. SD Card purchased (yeah foolish to pay mark up for BBY sd card, I know) and on my way.

As I walked out the door I could not help to think about my attitude 24hrs earlier. But as Im sitting here I tell you it makes no since to get grandma the latest flagship because she could care less about that. She primarily uses her house phone. Her cell is for going to her check ups and when the house phone goes out. Other than that it sits in her drawer until then. A flagship for her is a waste.

Having mid tier phones get better with performance, as well as android software in general, makes it easier to purchase a good smartphone at a reasonable price and not be concerned about the phone lagging and poorly performing. Great for teens, grands, and people on a budget.

She could have probably made do with a Pay as you Go flip phone. Or the Google Fi Motorola phone. Basic monthly bill would be $20 + tax assuming no data usage.

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the only problem is you gotta load it every so often or lose the number. might as well get google voice number and use it on an old phone. when not in use, it would be easy to just forward to the landline if someone tries to call the number. and it is free

Excellent choice @pc747 I was very impressed with the Moto G4+ the year, or so, my daughter used one. It's amazing how good the Moto G and E series are, for the price. Other than the plastic back plate, it's hard to tell they are not flagship phones. They run just as good, for 1/3 the cost of most flagship phones. And the G series is pretty repair friendly, I put a new screen in the G4+ and it was not difficult or expensive. I was in Best Buy over the weekend and while waiting on a sales rep I got to see and handle the new (er) Moto E5 & E5+. That was the first time I had actually held one and was very impressed.

Staff MemberRescue Squad

She could have probably made do with a Pay as you Go flip phone. Or the Google Fi Motorola phone. Basic monthly bill would be $20 + tax assuming no data usage.

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I already have att. You can buy go phones and just add your sim and make it a second line. I found it's actually cheaper that way especially since I also have a hotspot for her so she can use her iPad.

I searched every scenario and the route I am on is cheapest. I have a grandfathered 3 line plan with 30 gigs of data with roll over data. We rollover on avg 5-10 gigs a month giving us 35-40 gigs a month.

I have WiFi at the house but the hotspot I have my grandmother is her home WiFi. Would it be cheaper for her to switch to Comcast in her area and have a bundle, yup. But she has had dish for years. And despite me pointing out on several occasions that she is still overpaying by a lot being on an old 15 yr plan, she is comfortable because it is easier that way. So instead of trying to force something on her I just found a compromise.

Staff MemberRescue Squad

I ordered a pixel off swappa so I can play with p. That Moto is not getting anymore security updates. My Nexus 6p is pretty much retired. So I may send my Nexus 6p (updated to 8.1) to Grandma, and return the Moto.